Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror is a design that questions human reflection – or the lack of it. A series of angled mirrors that clings onto corners, ceilings, edges, and surfaces, catching us by surprise and reflecting multiple sides of both the space and the beholder.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” That is the question in the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale Snow White. The interesting aspect of that question is the dialogue with the mirror that emerges. A mirror reflects a small, simplified section of reality and engages in dialogue with the beholder on the beholder’s terms. Mirror Mirror facilitates a higher level of spatial and human reflection.

Maria Bruun strives to create timeless, durable and sustainable products, of which quality, materials, details and functionality ensures that they remain current despite changing trends. Her designs are usually characterized by a strong sense of inspiration from the Scandinavian design legacy but with a modern twist of international inspiration and the courage to make new and untraditional choices.

Maria Bruun

b. 1984, Danish product and furniture designer

Maria Bruun graduated as a furniture designer from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design in 2012. She presented the conceptual chair Soft Chair at Salone del Mobile in Milan 2013 as part of ‘Meet my project’. Her graduation piece Invader Storage system, was selected for the ‘D3 talents’ exhibition, imm cologne 2013. Prior to this the ‘Invader’ had been exhibited in Copenhagen as part of ‘A Temporary Contemporary Design Exhibition’ at Pakhus 48, an exhibition that she curated. Maria Bruun received the award “Young Promising Talent” in 2013, from the Danish interior design magazine Bo Bedre, and was also nominated for the 2013 ‘Interior Innovation Award’ D3 contest by imm cologne. In 2012 she received a grant from the foundation Grosserer L.F Foghts Fond, which was given to support the development of a new promising design.

To Maria Bruun, being a designer includes being able to navigate and choose in ‘chaos’. The challenge then is to define the conditions and narrow in on the final, controlled design. Managing this process requires the ability to work with both parameters. A design may have a chaotic point of departure with countless sources of inspiration: a detail, a material, a principle, a mood, a colour, or something else that is developed into a specific form in a process driven by curiosity. Next, Maria always moves quickly on to the modelling phase, where she tests proportions and details in a highly systematic and controlled process, usually in quick materials such as paper and cardboard. For Maria the modelling phase is the most crucial and revealing phase, where the strengths, weaknesses and true potential of the product are given their specific shape before they find their final form. Her choice of material is often wood and metal in their natural form; this reflects her affinity for ‘honest’ raw materials, as she believes that their inherent quality and narrative properties makes a contribution to any product.

Maria Bruun’s most important parameter is always curiosity, because curiosity promotes creativity. To remain curios is to continue to wonder and thus to create. Some ideas arise out of the blue, when they first pop into her mind, however with the end-result appearing crystal-clear. Other ideas develop over time, as a fascinating idea, dilemma, form or material triggers her curiosity towards new possibilities. Maria finds mostly her inspiration in user scenarios, unrealized projects, discarded models, works of art and objects that do not yet have a function. Travels, exhibitions and Internet are also constant sources of inspiration.
She ‘stores’ all these elements and impressions on an on-going basis as part of her ‘mental luggage’, which she then subsequently draws on in the creative process. The goal remains the same, to create meaningful and relatable products, which is characterized by poetry, humour and storytelling.